Recipe for a Curse (2021) Lissa Kasey (Romancing a Curse) I downloaded this novella as part of a Winter Wonderland giveaway of holiday short stories and novellas. As the first story I read wasn’t good, I haven’t expected too much from the other stories I’ve read. Montana works as a chef for a retreat in […]
Not So Cookie Cutter (2019) Aidan Wayne Jerrell is content being second baker, but he doesn’t mind taking over the kitchen when his co-worker is out sick. What he doesn’t expect is to be called out front so a customer can talk to him. He clasped his hands behind his back, at-ease stance so he […]
Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne Let me state first that the cover may be innocuous, but it also gives you completely the wrong idea about the book. There are no car chases are action scenes, it’s just that one character is a cab driver in the city. Jaxon may be a high school drop […]
A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson Set in London in an indeterminate time. William Renwick, Earl of Casslebury needs a wife. He knows his is disciplined, so he hopes to find a woman who smile and laugh. But he wasn’t in need of additional efficiency in his house. He was drowning in efficiency. He was […]
Requiem for Mr. Busybody (2020) Josh Lanyon Michael misses his days as a crime reporter. His life now consists mostly of his apartment building and his research. But when his elderly neighbor disappears, Michael reaches out to his ex, Detective Leonard Drake with his concerns. Here’s the thing about Josh Lanyon: She’s really good at […]
Blind Faith (2013) N.R. Walker (Blind Faith) Carter Reece has moved to Boston to take a position a veterinary clinic. One of the unexpected things is that the clinic still does house calls for a few people–one of whom is Isaac Brannigan–a man who uses brashness and arrogance to hide his fear of losing those […]
Two Rogues Make a Right (2020) Cat Sebastian (Seducing the Sedgwicks) Set in London ~1817-1818 Will Sedgwick’s best friend, Martin Easterbrook, had been found fevered and somewhat delusional in the attic of Hartley Sedgwick’s home (a home that by rights should have belonged to Martin). So Will stole him away to the country in the […]
Waiting for the Flood (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) The last book I finished wasn’t at all for me. This book was perfect for me. The waters are rising, and Edwin Tully worries more about his elderly neighbor than his own home–the home he bought with his ex. The home he thought was going to be […]
A Dangerous Deceit (2017) Alissa Johnson (The Thief-Takers) Set in England in the mid 1870s. Miss Jane Ballenger is a recluse. She’s tried going out in society, but it went very badly, so she remains at home, hiding her problems from the world. Sir Gabriel Arkwright is a famous thief-taker who now works as a […]
Think of England (2015) KJ Charles Set in England in 1904. Comfort read. Which for me generally means murder. This story doesn’t start with murder, but there is death, and blackmail, and treason. Archie Curtis lost friends, his career, and several of his fingers when a shipment of guns exploded upon use. When Archie learns […]
Color of You (2017) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) Bowen Merlin has moved to Lancaster in the middle of the school year to become the band director for the high and middle schools, after the previous teacher was fired. On of the first things he does, however, is dump apple cider all over the cutest […]
Knit Tight (2016) Annabeth Albert (Portland Heat) This is the fourth book in the Portland Heat series. Brady works as a barista at People’s Cup, and one of the busiest nights he works is Wednesday, when the local knitting group meets. It’s good for tips, which he needs, because he and his eighteen year-old sister […]
Destined To Last (2010) Alissa Johnson (The Providence Series) Set in England ~1815. Lady Kate Cole was, by most accounts, a young woman of exceptional beauty, extraordinary talent, and notable charm. She was also, by all accounts, a woman so remarkably prone to accidents that it was generally considered wise to back away if she […]
McAlistair’s Fortune (2009) Alissa Johnson (Providence) Set in England in 1814. After the death of her father and the subsequent neglect by her mother, Evie Cole was taken in my her aunt and it was there she truly healed from the carriage accident that left her with scars and a limp. Gritting her teeth, she […]
The Ruin of a Rake (2017) Cat Sebastian (The Turner Series) Set in England in 1817 Lord Courtenay has a reputation of the worst sort–as a rake, libertine, and wastrel. Courtenay was effectively stranded in London, a city populated by people who thought him a monster. He had spent the last of his money getting […]
The Countess Conspiracy (2013) Courtney Milan (Brothers Sinister) Set in England in 1867. Violet Waterfield, Countess of Cambury, has been keeping secrets all her life. But this secret belongs also to her best friend, Sebastian, and he is done with this secret. He’d agreed to this charade years ago, when he hadn’t understood what would […]
A Kiss for Midwinter (2012) Courtney Milan (Brothers Sinister) Set in England in 1863 I re-read the previous book in this series because I was wanting to re-read this story. Dr Jonas Grantham wanted more than anything to become a doctor. Right before he left for medical school, he followed the town doctor around to […]
Connection Error (2016) Annabeth Albert (#gaymers) Despite his best planning, Josiah Simmons almost misses his plane and is the last passenger on board. But when he sees his seat mate, he thinks maybe everything things are looking up. Ryan Orson is focused on one thing–get past his injuries and back onto the duty rooster. He […]
Small Vices, Audio Edition (1997) Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds It’s been more than two decades, so this review is going to be completely full of spoilers, because I want to talk about the many reasons why I love this book so very much. So if you haven’t read it, well, you’re missing […]
Color of You (2017) C.S. Poe Bowen Merlin has moved to Lancaster NH to take a job for the county, as the music teacher and director for the high and middle schools. It’s a big change, to have moved from NYC, but he is excited about the change. And then he dumps hot apple cider […]
Play It Again (2019) Aidan Wayne Dovid and his sister Rachel are YouTube stars. They actually make their living from it, first becoming famous after Rachel recorded Dovid ranting about how he hated it when people didn’t pronounce his name correctly. But he also spends time going to schools and talking abut bullying because that’s […]
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (2020) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper Dayton and Oliver Park are trying to buy a house. Well, Oliver is looking at houses and Cooper is horrified at how much money Oliver wants to spend. So what do you think of this place?” Park asked. Cooper bit his lip. “What do […]
Merlin in the Library (2018) Ada Maria Soto This is a short story that is a follow-up to His Quiet Agent. It’s a glimpse into Martin’s head, and kind of a reassurance that he is getting help for his trauma and issues. It won’t make much sense if you haven’t read the novella, but if […]
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency) It hasn’t been that long since I read this, but I really wanted to revisit it, and it was actually better than I had remembered, since I picked up more details the second time through. Arthur Drams is an analyst for The Agency. He may have […]
Dine with Me (2019) Layla Reyne Miller Sykes rose in the food world until he had his own restaurant. But now the restaurant is closing, his best friend is getting married, and according to the doctor he has 6 months to live if he doesn’t get his cancer treated. But the treatment (if it works) […]
Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper has spent the past several months recuperating, and being taken care of by Oliver, who has been on suspension (both the result of Cooper’s visit home to see his father and brother). Every official communication was carefully uninterested about the private lives of their […]
The Wolf at Bay (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper Dayton and Oliver Park and working things out as partners for the BSI, but Cooper isn’t quite sure how things are working out on the personal front. Neither seems capable of talking about how the feel, and both have a lot they need to […]
The Wolf at the Door (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Agent Cooper Dayton discovered the existence of the supernatural in the worst possible way–by almost being killed by it. Werewolves were not just in books and movies, cartoons and games. They were real and they had “come out” five years ago to governments around […]
Arctic Heat (2019) Annabeth Albert Owen Han is checking one more item off his bucket list–spending the winter in Alaska, and he’s doing it as a volunteer for the Alaska park service. Quill’s tone didn’t exactly encourage more talking, but Owen was nothing if not friendly. And persistent. His sister the therapist called it aggressively […]
Status Update (2015) Annabeth Albert (#gaymers) Noah Walters is trying to finish his book, so he can complete his sabbatical as expected and then get tenure. Teaching jobs in geoarchaeologist are few and far between, so even if he isn’t especially comfortable at the conservative college where he teaches, it’s a good job and he […]
The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky (2019) Mackenzi Lee This is not a boinking book, although it is a book about boinking. Henry “Monty” Montague and Percy Newton are mostly over the events of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, and are beginning their lives together, except that they haven’t yet done it yet, […]
Get a Life, Chloe Brown (2019) Talia Hibbert Chloe Brown has been all but a recluse because of her chronic illness. But a near-death experience convinces her she needs to change things up: so she makes a list. “Excuse me, universe,” she whispered to the kitchen floor. “When you almost murdered me today— which was […]
Southernmost Murder (2018) C.S. Poe I’m beginning to think I should just go ahead and read everything CS Poe has written, because I’ve really liked everything I’ve read so far. Aubrey Grant runs an historical property in Key West–a job he does well, despite the regular inconveniences of his narcolepsy. He’s also looking forward to […]
Play It Again: A Slow Burn Romance (2019) Aidan Wayne Dovid Rosenstein and his sister Rachel run the popular YouTube channel Don’t Look Now, with Rachel behind the camera and Dovid starring in the videos–many of which focus on accessibility and anti-bullying, since Dovid has spent most of his life navigating a sighted world. Dontlooknowdovid: […]
American Dreamer (2019) Adriana Herrera Nesto Vasquez is chasing his dream. He’s moving his food truck from NYC up to Ithaca (where is mother and sister live) to see if he can make a go of it there. All he wants is to focus on making a success of his business; he didn’t expect the […]
Merlin in the Library (2018) Ada Maria Soto This is a very short story that follows on the heels of His Quiet Agent. It’s not a full-blown story as much as a peek into Martin’s mind, and a reassurance that he will, eventually, be ok. Martin wanted to reassure Arthur that he was fine and […]
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto Arthur Drams has worked hard for The Agency and is hoping to move up in the ranks. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening. “That’s…” Arthur didn’t want to rock the boat, complain or seem ungrateful, but it had been four years. “A bit more of a lateral […]
Can’t Escape Love (2019) Alyssa Cole First things first: I LOVE THIS COVER. This is an AMAZING cover and I completely cannot believe it came from Avon. So the story. This is a novella that apparently takes place at the same time as the book about the main character’s twin sister. This become important later […]
Untouchable (2018) Talia Hibbert Hannah made a huge mistake several years ago, which cost her a career and child care. Since then she’s been working minimum wage jobs and hating her life. But when a guy she grew up with needs a nanny, his brother recommends Hannah. “So, just to be clear,” she said slowly, […]
That Kind of Guy (2019) Talia Hibbert Zack has lived his life in Ravenswood, and has earned his reputation as a slut. But after his mother’s illness, and his subsequent depression, he’s been reevaluating his life–including why he had so many sexual encounters he didn’t actually want. (N)ecessity was the mother of every skill Zach […]
Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara Cooper is (again) recuperating, having had his leg badly broken in their last adventure–the one that got Park suspended for a month. They are still hiding their relationship from the BSI, but neither is sure if that will work once they are both back at work together. Every […]
The Wolf at Bay (2018) Charlie Adhara After solving the serial killer case four months previous, Cooper and Park have become partners at the BSI–and partners in the other sense as well, but neither of them is capable of talking about how they feel about each other. “That depends on just because what. Just because […]
The Wolf at the Door (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Agent Cooper Dayton was transferred from the FBI to the BSI after a werewolf attack. The job of the BSI is to deal with werewolf crime–and keep the existence of werewolves from becoming known to the general public. The public could never know about […]
Family Man (2017) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton After three failed marriages, Vincent “Vinnie” Fierro has started wondering whether he family and religion are why he has denied to himself so adamantly that he might be interested in guys. Trey Giles is working his way through school, one class at a time, while holding down […]
A Dangerous Deceit (2017) Alissa Johnson Miss Jane Ballenger is a spinster and a recluse. This is due to the fact she has difficulty hearing, and so avoids going out in public. At one point, he related a story involving three turnips and a brick. She was fairly certain she had misheard that bit, but […]
Destined To Last (2010) Alissa Johnson Set in England in ~1814 Lady Kate Cole is a stunning beauty. She also, unfortunately, has a reputation. She was also, by all accounts, a woman so remarkably prone to accidents that it was generally considered wise to back away if she happened to be standing next to a […]
McAlistair’s Fortune (2009) Alissa Johnson Set in England in 1814. Evie Cole may have a reputation as a wall-flower, but she is strong-willed and independent, using what power she has to help others. She also believes that the scars of her past make her unacceptable on the marriage mart. The trouble with having a limp […]
A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson Set in London in an indeterminate historical time. William Renwick, Earl of Casslebury has decided it’s time for him to find a wife. It was his sense of responsibility that had necessitated his most recently constructed plan. He would marry a young lady of good blood, excellent reputation, pleasant […]
Think of England (2014) K.J. Charles Set in England in 1904 Archie Curtis lost three of the fingers on his right hand as well as much of his company when a delivery of guns proved tragically defective. “It was a damned business. My company lost as many men in two minutes’ practice firing than in […]
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (2017) Mackenzi Lee Set in Europe in the 1700s Henry “Monty” Montague is a rake. He was kicked out of Eton, is constantly in drunk, and is the despair of his parents. He is also in love with his best friend, Percy. In a last ditch attempt at […]